Partial restoration of phone services in Iran
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Life is better with a story. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Celia Hatton. On Tuesday, the 13th of January, these are our main stories.
What accounts are emerging from the partial restoration of phone services in Iran?
In Iran, thousands are feared to have been killed by government forces. With the partial restoration of phone services, Iranians have been describing violent crackdowns on anti-democracy protests in their initial calls abroad. The French far-right politician Marine Le Pen has begun her appeal against a two-year prison sentence and a ban on standing for public office. Also in this podcast, my gut is equivalent to an Italian man five years older than me. Could good gut health be the key to living longer?
What is the current situation regarding the death toll in Iran's protests?
Let's begin in Iran, where a total communications blackout appears to be lifting, telling us more about the unprecedented anti-government street protests that led to a deadly crackdown by the authorities. Some people inside Iran are now making phone contact with people outside the country, and that's helping us to fill in the picture on what's been happening since the internet was shut down several days ago. This Iranian woman in London had a brief telephone conversation with a relative. A family member called me around sort of half 10 and very, very brief call. They just called to say that they're safe. They and their wife are safe. And that was it. They're in the north of Iran. So they're in an area called Gorgan, just north of Tehran, quite kind of on the outskirts of the town.
So quite rural area. And they said that basically everyone's been killed. And I asked, do they personally know people? And they said family members, colleagues, neighbors, like, you know, in every household that's happening. And they had just called to say they're safe. Very brief call, got off the phone and also just told me that they had told their daughter who I know. So, yeah, and that was it. The Reuters news agency says an Iranian official has told them that about 2,000 people have been killed, including security personnel. And we're hearing about executions, too. This from Jeremy Lawrence, a spokesman for the UN's Human Rights Office.
it is extremely worrying to see public statements by some judicial officials indicating the possibility of the death penalty being used against protesters through expedited judicial proceedings. The High Commissioner stresses that Iranians have the right to demonstrate peacefully. Their grievances need to be heard and addressed and not instrumentalised by anyone.
So what's the latest about the numbers killed and arrested? Jayar Gul is from BBC Persian.
Human rights groups say somewhere around 650 people have been killed. But this number is more before the internet blackout, before people could contact us, give us name. And even we in BBC Persian were able to, before the internet blackout, find some of those families, talk about them, get the story of those people who have been killed and identify some of the victims. But this time in the past four days, we believe The lethal force used against protesters is unprecedented. Doctors, surgeons, nurses, ambulance drivers, they get in touch to us from hospitals small and large, from the capital Tehran or small city and large across the country. We received so many messages, but all of them, they had something in common.
Our hospitals. are overwhelmed with young men and women with shotgun wounds. Our morgues have been piled up with the bodies of young men and women, the protesters, and also the footages we have seen. One clip, somebody managed to send it to us. We counted in the street of Tehran. In one clip, in a matter of a few seconds, 350 shots were heard. gunshot. It sounded like a live ammunition.
So you're saying we have unprecedented numbers, you believe, of people killed. We're also hearing reports now that communications are coming back online, some communications are coming back online, of swift executions, executions that have been carried out and plans for more. What more can you tell us?
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:53
2
What accounts are emerging from the partial restoration of phone services in Iran?
0:53–1:32
3
What is the current situation regarding the death toll in Iran's protests?
1:32–7:07
4
What is Marine Le Pen's appeal about and what does it mean for her political future?
7:07–14:02
5
What charges is former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol facing?
14:02–34:42